Happy Ever After And Then Some
by gamerwannabe96
Summary: A few years after the Reaper war is over, Shelby and Garrus have finally gotten married, and are ready for their honeymoon. But what surprises they find heal some old wounds. A fluffy story that is long over due to be posted.
1. Chapter 1

Garrus lifted Shelby's chin with a finger, guiding her eyes to look up at him.

"I love you, Mrs. Vakarian." He smiled out.

Shelby smiled from ear to ear as she looked into Garrus' beautiful ice blue eyes.

"I love you too Garrus."

Garrus gave her his equivalent of a smile and kissed her forehead. "Where do you want to go for our honeymoon Shel?" Shelby smiled at that. She's married the one person she felt like she couldn't live without. It had only been few weeks since the wedding, but Shelby was still as happy as the day Garrus had proposed to her. They had gone to Mindor so that Shelby could show him where she grew up, places she loved, things she did in her spare time. They stayed for a week with some old family friends that Shelby had known for years, going in with her boyfriend, but came out with her finance.

"So long as I'm with you, anywhere will be perfect." She smiled out.

Garrus smiled and pulled her close to him. "What about Scotland? You've always said you loved your trip when you were younger, and would love to go back sometime."

Shelby smiled. She'd mentioned her trip with her mom to Scotland all those years ago only a few times. She loved that Garrus paid such close attention. "Scotland would be wonderful. So long as you don't mind all the down pours and consequential cold that this time of year would bring." She pointed out.

"Turians don't always like wet and cold, but I'll go anywhere with you." He said with a smile.

"Garrus, you need to enjoy this too." She chastised him. "What about Cost Rica?"

Garrus' mandibles twitched a bit through a smile.

"It doesn't matter to me. Wherever we go will be perfect."

"That's a yes." She said with a smile. " Costa Rica it is then."

"I can book the flight for us to leave tomorrow, if that's alright with you, that is." He offered.

Shelby smiled to him and gave him a quick kiss. "That sounds perfect."

"Alright. I'll be back." He said and left the room.

Shelby smiled and headed for her "artsy room" downstairs after Garrus was out of sight. Shelby walked through the door, leaving it open and walked over to the Acoustic guitar that had a black base color with silver trim and a silver rearing horse outline decal on the front that sat in it's stand by her night stand. She took it from it's stand and went over to the futon couch and laid against the pillows as she started strumming "I Was Lost Without You." Few people knew she had the guitar, let alone played it. It was just something that she never seemed to get around to telling people about.

Garrus came back out i to the living room upstairs and saw that Shelby was gone. "Shel?" He heard the music coming from downstairs, so he followed the sound. He got downstairs and rounded the corner, standing in the doorway of Shelby's artsy room and watched her play with a little smile.

Shelby was focused on her fingers pressing and strumming the right notes. She wasn't aware of Garrus in the doorway.

Garrus leaned against the door frame and listened to her play all the way through the song.

"That's beautiful Shel."

Shelby jumped a bit and looked over to Garrus as he cheeks turned pink.

"I'm self taught." She said with a smile and started to set her guitar against the night stand beside her.

Garrus walked over to her and gently grabbed her wrist before she could let go of her guitar's neck. "Don't stop just because I'm here." He said with a smile.

Shelby blushed a bit with a smile. "Alright." She put her guitar back in her lap and adjusted her position as needed. "I have to warn you, all I know are old Earth songs." She said with a chuckle and started strumming and singing "All Of Me" by John Legend. Garrus sat towards the end of the bed and smiled as he listened to Shelby. "I like it." He smiled out as she finished the song and she straightened her leg, laying her guitar in her lap.

"That was one of my grandmother's favorite songs. Or so my mom always told me. Grandma lived on Earth with most of the rest of my family."

Garrus moved so that he was sitting next to her and looked to her with genuine curiosity. "You never knew your grandmother?"

"Not really. She died when my mom was only 18 from a big heart attack. All I know about her are the things that mom's told me about her." Her smile faded a bit. "Come to think about it, I didn't know most of family. We couldn't go see them on Earth because of all of our animals. Someone has to take care of them, and seemed like no one wanted to come to Mindor. Hell, I hardly knew Dan or my parents." She said and sat the guitar on the bed and walked around the room, over towards a wall, her eyes starting to water. She stopped and stared at a blank wall for a moment as she started faintly glowing blue. A moment later, she threw a biotic powered punch at the wall.

"Those damned raiding Batarian bastards." her voice rattled out as she started collapsing toward the wall. Shelby was usually good about keeping herself calm when she talked about home, but she had a few moments where it seemed to bother her more than others. Garrus darted off the bed and rushed over to Shelby, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him. She let a few silent tears fall as images from the raid filled her head.

* * *

Shelby ran through the streets of her home, welding her pistol that her dad had given her strictly for a self defense emergency, she was terrified and unsure of what to do next as she passed people she knew either being stuffed into crates to be taken away or laying in the blood soaked streets, limp and lifeless. Children, teens, adults. Kids and teens were being taken away while intervening adults were shot where they stood. She had been looking for her best friend Ellie, along with her mom, dad, and 4 year old brother, Dan. She was on her second sweep of Ellie's block when Shelby had finally found Ellie. But she didn't find her in any happy state. It seemed that Ellie had been almost kidnapped, escaped but then purposely clotheslined herself to break her own neck and escape capture. It broke Shelby's heart Ellie had been her friend ever since grade school. She slowly bent down by Ellie and ran her hand over Ellie's eyelids, closing Ellie's eyes with tears running down Shelby's face. Shelby could hear raiders behind her so she got up and ran. She never got the chance to say goodbye to her best friend. Shelby sprinted the hole way back to her house and never once stopped moving. She got to her front porch and she swore her heart actually broke as she stared at her mom, dad, and little brother dead on the porch. She went up to them, kneeling by her mom and dad, who were in pile in front of Dan, and started bawling as she laid her head in her arms on top of them. Not long after, she was hauled off of her porch by an Alliance soldier. Shelby had killed raiders in defense three times by the time she had been picked up by that passing Alliance patrol.

* * *

Garrus kissed the top of Shelby's head as he made lazy circles on her back, trying to calm her down. He knew that thinking about the raid was a bit bipolar for her. Some days she could talk about it like she was never there, other days it seemed like it was still a fresh wound.

"It's alright Shel, I'm here."

"I hate those raiders. They took my world away. "

Garrus continued to rub her back and listen to her for a few moments before Shelby wiped off her cheeks and smiled up at Garrus.

"Thank you." She said and kissed his "cheek".

Garrus turned her a bit to face him and he kissed her. "I'm always here for you Shel." He said with a smile.

"I know you are." She smiled out. "You really are a magician. You always know how to make me feel better."

Garrus smiled and brushed some stray hair behind her ear. "What exactly is a magician Shel?" He asked through a chuckle.

Shelby smiled and explained magicians and some of their infamous tricks. "I know a few card tricks that I learned years ago."

"Oh really? You'll have to show me sometime." Garrus said with a bit of curiosity in his tone.

"Gladly." Shelby smiled out and walked over to the dresser beside the bed and dug around in one of the drawers. She pulled out a deck of cards with various horse breeds on them and patted a spot on the futon next to her. "Come on."

Garrus smiled a bit and went over to her and sat on the bed beside her. "What are we doing?"

Shelby took the rubber band off of the cards and handed him the deck. "Shuffle these, anyway you like." Garrus shuffled the deck and gave it back to Shelby. She took the deck back and fanned it out in front of him. "Pick any card, without letting me see it, and look at it."

Garrus picked a card and looked at it. "Ok. Now what?"

"Put it back anywhere in the deck."

Garrus put his card back in the deck with a curious smile.

"Okay. Now I'll put the deck behind my back and find your card." Shelby put the deck behind her back for a few seconds and brought it back in front of her and searched the cards. She pulled one out. "Is this your card?"

"No." Garrus said with a smirk.

"Hmm." Shelby searched some more and picked another card. "Is THIS your card?"

"Still no." Garrus said with an amused smirk.

"Hmmm. That's odd." She thought for a couple seconds before snapping her fingers in a "A-ha!" manner. "I know where it went." She had Garrus move his thigh and sure enough, he was sitting on a card. Shelby grabbed it and held up the 4 of clubs. "THIS is your card isn't it?" She asked with a smirk.

Garrus' face of shock and confusion was priceless. "Ho...how did you?"

"Ta-da!" Shelby smiled out.

"That was awesome. Just like you." He said with a smile.

Shelby smiled. "Thank you. I know a couple more card tricks, and I can make coins and salt shakers disappear. It's pretty basic stuff."

"That's amazing."

"If you think that's cool, you should see what I can do with people." She teased with a smirk although her magic tricks were mostly card tricks.

Garrus chuckled. "I've been around you long enough now to know what you can do with people." He pointed out.

"That's true." She agreed with an amused smile.

Shelby got off the bed and grabbed her guitar. She went over to the guitar stand, and latched the neck strap on the stand to secure the guitar in place. Garrus had followed her and waited for Shelby to get her guitar settled in before he went up beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"We should get to bed. We have to be at the airport at 6:00 in the morning."

Shelby smiled and looked to him. "Alright."

Garrus returned the smile and took Shelby by surprise as he scooped her up into his arms bridal style, causing Shelby to squeal a bit.

"Charmer." She teased through a smile.

Garrus just smiled with a little chuckle as he headed upstairs with her.


	2. Chapter 2

Garrus woke up the next morning and nudged Shelby.

"Time to get up Shel. We have to leave in an hour and a half."

"I'm up." She mumbled as she turned over onto her stomach and buried her face in the pillow.

Garrus chuckled with a little shake of his head. He got out of bed and walked over to Shelby's side of the bed. He reached over and grabbed the covers that had her turned into a blanket burrito. "I could always make you get up." He joked with a smile.

"If you tickle me, I will throw you down the stairs." She warned, with her face still in the pillow. Shelby was never a morning person until she HAD to be. Getting her up any other day was a miracle.

"No." Garrus said, clearly amused and gave the comforter a good yank, practically catapulting Shelby from her spot and onto the floor in front of Garrus' feet. "Now you're up."

"Jerk." She chuckled out as she threw a pillow from the bed at him before getting up off the floor.

Garrus chuckled and passed the pillow back onto the bed. "No. Being a jerk would be doing this." Garrus picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

"Woah!" Shelby exclaimed and thrashed around, trying to get free, but it proved futile. "Put me down Vakarian, or so help me!" She laughed out.

Garrus chuckled a bit with a smile. "Or what?"

"Or I'll...I'll...I'll do something." She ended with a chuckle.

Garrus smiled, hiding a chuckle as he set her back down. "Better?"

"Yes, Thank you." She smiled out and kissed his equivalent of a cheek.

"Come on. Let's get the bathroom stuff packed and head for the airport."

Garrus took their bags downstairs by the door while Shelby gathered the bathroom things they'd need, which didn't take her too long. She was back downstairs within 20 minutes and put each of their bathroom Ziplock bags in the appropriate suitcases. Garrus had gone back up stairs already to change out of his sleep clothes and Shelby made her upstairs to wait for him. She leaned against the door frame with a smile as Garrus finished adjusting his shirt.

"All ready." Garrus said as he started for the door.

"Good. I've been ready for the past 20 minutes." She teased and playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

"Smartass. careful. next time I'll bite that." He smiled out.

Shelby's eyes went wide as quarters as she pulled her tongue back into her mouth and clamped her jaw closed.

Garrus chuckled in amusement. "Come on. Let's get going." He said as he led her to the front door, practically dragging her with him.

"I thought I was the excited one." She joked.

"I'm excited to have some personal time with you. That's no crime."

Shelby smiled. "No. But we have been alone for the past work weeks." She pointed out.

"Well, almost not." He admitted.

Shelby shot him a questioning look that could cut steal. "What do you mean "almost not"?"

"Well, I may have told a few people to come back later when they came to the apartment." Garrus admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Shelby crossed her arms and raised a brow. "Like who?"

"Selena and Tali."

"And?" She knew he was leaving something out.

"And...Tristan and Zaal." He admitted.

"Were any of them having a crisis?"

"No. Tristan just wanted to stop by before she took Zaal home with her to Scotland."

Shelby had met Tristan while they were incarcerated with the Alliance. They had become fast best friends and they convinced Anderson and Hackett to let Tristan lead with Shelby and Selena in the final battle of the Reaper war. The three became an inseparable trio that year. Shelby still doesn't agree with the Quarian Admiral, or like him too much, but he makes Tristan very happy, and that's enough for Shelby to respect him.

Shelby relaxed her posture and spoke normally again. "I can just video chat them later."

"At least you're not going to kill me." He joked.

"I'd only be mad if someone was having a crisis and needed my help." She said with a little smile.

"Good to know." Garrus said as they headed outside and got into the cab. Garrus went to the cab door and opened it for Shelby. "Ladies first." He smiled out.

Shelby smiled. "Such a gentleman, and a comedian. You think I act like a lady." She joked as she sat in the cab.

"Something you're not telling me, Shel?" He joked back.

They both shared a laugh as Garrus got I the cab and shut the door. The cab took off, and they started their journey overseas.


	3. Chapter 3

The pilot came over the intercom. "20 minutes until we land in Costa Rica." The rest was all a blur to Shelby as she looked over to Garrus with a smile.

"20 minutes away." Garrus said with a little smile.

"This is going to be great. Warm weather, a black sand beach in the backyard of our hotel. It'll be perfect." Shelby smiled out.

"Trust me, it'll be paradise."

"I trust you. I always do."

Garrus smiled at Shelby. "I know you do. Maybe too much sometimes."

Shelby turned in her seat as much as she could so that she faced Garrus, looking at him with a curious concern. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing personal, Shel. It just goes back to my team." Garrus still had weak moments about his team. He still blamed himself for what happened, and some days bothered him more than others. "They trusted me, and I let them down."

"Garrus." Shelby started as she grabbed one of Garrus's hands with hers. "You are never going to let me down."

"I try to remind myself of that."

Shelby looked into his eyes. "I love you, Garrus Vakarian. I trust you with my life and my heart. You're the best man I could have ever asked to fall head over heels for. Don't. Ever. Forget it."

Garrus smiled and put his other hand over hers. "I promise, I won't."

"Good." She smiled out.

The pilot came back over the intercom announcing the start of the plane descending and Garrus chuckled as Shelby tried to get out of her seat with her seatbelt still hooked.

"You have to let the plane land, and stop first, Shel." He joked.

"Psh. I've destroyed reapers, I can handle jumping from a moving plane." She joked back.

"I don't think so." Garrus chuckled out with a little smile.

"I was only hospitalized for a few months."

"Yes, a few long, hard, months for everyone, myself included."

"It was only six months."

"I didn't think you were going to live, Shel."

"Were the first months that bad?"

"Yes, it was. No one could see you for the first two months after you were brought in because of how severe your injuries were. Even after those two months passed, you looked like hell's door mat."

"I didn't know it was THAT bad."

"Do you remember the first day Tristan came into see you?"

"I was still passed out. But, yes. I faintly remember some of the things she said."

"I had never seen her or Selena cry before, when you woke up, they both balled when you tried to speak."

Shelby's usual little smile faded. "Tris was so distraught. She was so relieved when I finally woke up. She told me what happened and where I was, because I was so out of it, I didn't remember what happened to me. I was hit dead center of a reaper beam while guarding her on the way to the beam. Lena had to get me on an E-vac shuttle and stayed back with the forces on earth. We all barely survived that war. Geeze. This conversation took a quick turn to depressing."

"I'm sorry Shel. I didn't mean to bring back bad memories. Come on. It's time to get our bags." He said as the plane stopped and the passengers were allowed to get off.

Shelby stood with him and grabbed her carry on backpack. "They aren't all bad." She said with a smile. "I remember hearing the door open and your fast footsteps to my bedside. You were just glad to see me. When I was awake, you ran over to me, and hugged me as best as you could, even though the only thing I could move was my head and my eyes. We hadn't been dating too long at that point, but to know you already cared that much made me love you even more." She chuckled a bit with a smile. "You were ALWAYS there. Same two hours, every week, and every day. Even when I was still knocked out, you were there with me, talking to me like nothing was wrong."

"You heard me?" He asked with a smile.

"Of course I did." She smiled out. "I was sleeping half the time, not deaf. Besides, how could I forget THAT much persistence?"

Garrus chuckled. "It'd be pretty hard to, I'd imagine."

"Try impossible." Shelby smiled out with a little chuckle as they stepped off of the plane.

Garrus chuckled as they walked through the airport, he was listening to the announcements. "Is any of that important?"

Shelby chuckled. She was fluent in Spanish as a second langue and knew a bit of Italian as well. "It's not important for us."

"That's good to know. Now, it'd be nice if the signs were readable." He joked.

"Shelby chuckled and pointed to one of the signs. "Puertas D, E, F, a la izquierda. Puertas A, B, C, al frente. Baños a la derecha. Gates D, E, F to the left. Gates A, B, C, straight ahead. Bathrooms to the right." She translated with a little smile.

"That makes more sense." He said with a little chuckle.

Garrus and Shelby went through security and customs quick because of some "Shepard fans" working a couple of the stops. Shelby had to do most of the talking of course, since she could understand what was being said. When Garrus and Shelby got to the main lobby, they decided they'd decide what to do the rest of the day after they've settled in at the hotel, so Shelby asked the receptionist for directions to their hotel and led the way.


	4. Chapter 4

Garrus and Shelby got to the door for their room and Garrus grabbed her arm once she had the door open. "Don't you dare." She chuckled out.

"There's a tradition to uphold." He said as he swooped her up bridal style and walked into the room.

"Alright. Who's been telling you about human traditions?"

"I promised Kaidan that I wouldn't tell you." He chuckled and walked over towards the bed.

Shelby chuckled with a shake of her head. "That stinker." She smiled out.

Garrus sat her down on the bed and went back to the door and brought their bags into the room. He set the bags out of the way and went over to Shelby and at next to her. "What are you up for, Shel?"

"How does lunch sound?"

"Sounds good to me." He said with a smile.

* * *

Garrus and Shelby picked their table and a waitress with a mid-back, black hair was neatly tied into a ponytail, walked up to their table.

"Hola. Hables español o ingl…Shelby?" The girl smiled out.

Shelby looked at her for a moment before she recognized the girl. "Dannie?"

"Yeah! What you are doing all the way down here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Shelby said with a smile as she stood and hugged her younger cousin.

"I moved down here after I finished college five years ago. Now, what are YOU doing here? And who's this?" Dannie spoke with a smile plastered to her expression.

"Dannie, this is Garrus Vakarian, my husband. We're her for our honeymoon." Garrus stood as Shelby introduced them with a smile.

"Husband? That's wonderful Shelby! I'm happy for you. It's nice to meet you, Garrus."

"Thank you Dannie."

"It's nice to meet you too, Dannie." Garrus said as he returned his version of a smile.

"Please, sit. I'll get you guys taken care of." Dannie took their drink orders and brought them out promptly afterwards.

* * *

Dannie came back to give Shelby and Garrus their change, and she smiled at Shelby. "I know you guys are probably busy, but I really want you to meet my roommate sometime."

"I don't see why not. When do you want us to meet up?"

"I get off in 30 minutes, if you want to go then." She offered.

"That sounds good." Shelby smiled out.

"Awesome! Just meet me here in 30 minutes and I can show you to our apartment."

"We'll be here."

Dannie walked back toward the restaurant and Shelby looked to Garrus. "I know that look. What's on your mind?"

"Just curious as to who she wants you to meet."

"Me too. We'll know soon though. Come on. I'll go show you around the town."

* * *

Shelby and Garrus met up with Dannie and she led the way to the apartment and unlocked the door, letting Shelby and Garrus go ahead of her when they arrived. Dannie led them to the living room and had them wait there while she went to make sure that her roommate was home. Dannie walked down a hallway and came back with a younger man following her not long afterwards.

He had sandy blonde hair with light blue eyes, and he was a few inches taller than Shelby's 5'9" height. The young man looked to Dannie with disbelief, and Shelby looked to her with a bit of confusion. Dannie smiled to Shelby a bit.

"I didn't expect you'd recognize him right away Shelby. It has been 19 years since you saw him last anyways."


	5. Chapter 5

Shelby furrowed her brow in confusion at Dannie. "19 years? What are you talking about, Dannie?"

Dannie bumped the man's arm, encouraging him to speak. "You really don't remember me, do you?" The man's voice was smooth, and a bit deep.

"No. Sorry." Shelby said with a little shake of her head. Garrus was standing just behind her, and to the side a bit, watching intently.

"I used to always mess up my b's and p's so I just called you Shelly."

Shelby's features softened as a look of pure shocked disbelief spread over her features, she was absolutely speechless. Garrus looked to her in surprise, he knew why Shelby was so shocked just based off what she had always told him.

"You thought I was dead." The man added.

"My God." Shelby's voice wobbled out as her eyes watered and she covered her dropped jaw with her hands. "Dan." She said as a tear of joy ran down her cheek and her legs started to give out on her, so Garrus quickly caught her and helped her stand back up.

"Hey Shelly." Dan smiled out.

Shelby ignored the shaking in her legs, ran over the few steps over to Dan and tightly wrapped her arms around him.

"I thought you were dead."

"I thought YOU were dead." Dan said as he tightly hugged his older sister.

After a moment, Shelby pulled back and smiled to Dan as she put her hands on his cheeks. "You're all grown up. How are you even here?"

"I was hit with a piece of concussive ricocheted debris. I wasn't actually shot. But I did have to witness mom and dad give their lives to save me. Just as the Batarian that killed them was coming for me, he was shot through the head, and it hit off the house. It broke off a piece of the siding, hit the back of my head, and it was enough to knock me unconscious. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in Huerta Memorial with Aunt May and Uncle Ben at my bedside. They took me home to live with them and Dannie in Tennessee. Dannie and I both graduated and we decided to stick together for a while, so we both ended up here. Now, tell me how you managed to escape death."

Shelby scoffed lightly a bit. "If you want to get technical, I WAS dead for two years. Cerberus got ahold of whatever was left of my body, and brought me back to stop the collectors. Then I happily went back to the Alliance and destroyed the reapers, where I got out barely alive."

"So, you're like a zombie?" Dannie asked, not quite getting the concept.

Shelby chuckled a bit in amusement. "No. I'm 100% alive, I assure you. No parts damaged, missing or donated. I'm me. I was just dead first."

"Then she laid at death's door AGAIN after the final battle." Garrus pointed out.

"Yeah. But I lived."

"You got hit by a Reaper beam!"

"Didn't we already go over this?" She asked with an amused smile.

"Not with us, you didn't." Dannie pointed out.

"Okay, okay." Shelby said and explained her position in the war and how it brought her within death's grasp. "I was hospitalized for six months and the doctors didn't think I'd make a full recovery like I did. I wasn't exactly in a rush to back on my feet though since I didn't have to worry about the reapers at our door."

"And while you took your sweet time, the whole crew was recovering from the heart attacks you gave us." Garrus teased her.

"Sorry. I didn't exactly plan on getting Reaper beamed." She said with an amused smile.

"So, this is your boyfriend?" Dan asked curiously.

"Husband." Shelby smiled out.

"Garrus Vakarian. It's great to meet you, Dan. I've heard a lot about you. " Garrus smiled out and stuck out his hand.

"It's great to meet you too, Garrus." Dan smiled out as he shook Garrus' hand.

"When was the big day, Shelly?"

"Two weeks ago."

"Is he good to you? Do you love him?"

"Daniel." Shelby chuckled out with a 'come on now' manner.

"What? I'm the brother. It's my job."

"Fair enough. Sί y sί." She smiled out.

Garrus smiled at Shelby and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Has Shelby taught you Spanish yet, Garrus?" Dannie asked curiously.

"Not officially. But she uses it enough that I can pick up a handful of words."

"That's still great." Dannie smiled out.

"Has she at least taught you what Te amo means?" Dan asked curiously.

Garrus smiled. "Of course. It means "I love you." That's normally how she tells me that."

"Good girl, Shelly." Dan said with a little smile and a nod of approval.

* * *

When Shelby and Garrus got back to their hotel room late that night, they had planned out half of their trip spending time with Dan and Dannie, which they were both looking forward to. Shelby went over and laid on the bed to wait for Garrus to get changed into his pj's and wound up falling asleep in 15 minutes that he was gone with her day clothes still on. Garrus saw her when he came out of the bathroom and smiled. He took off her denim jacket and shoes for her, leaving her in a nice t-shirt and skinny jeans. Garrus pulled back the covers and got into bed with Shelby without disturbing her.

"I'll see ya tomorrow Shel." He quietly smiled out and cuddled up to her before falling asleep.


End file.
